Huawei's latest attempt to break into the US market comes by way of the Honor smartphone brand, specifically the Honor 5X. David thought it was pretty good for $200, and now you're mere days away from coming to your own conclusion. The Honor 5X goes on sale January 31st (Sunday) for $200.

The Honor 5X will be available first on Amazon and Newegg. Huawei would previously only say that the 5X was due to launch at the end of the month, and they're technically living up to that promise... just barely. The metal body of the Honor 5X packs a Snapdragon 615, 2GB of RAM, a solid 13MP camera, and a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.

The software situation is not awesome with Android 5.1 and the EMUI skin. A Marshmallow update is supposed to arrive later. Maybe that will improve things, but even now you'll still be hard-pressed to find a better deal on a phone for $200. Newegg is also offering a free 32GB microSD card when you buy an Honor 5X.

Press Release

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- honor 5X, the all-essentials-packed smartphone that made a splash at International CES 2016 this month, will be available for purchase in the United States starting January 31. The device, which comes in gold, silver and grey, will retail for US$199.99 and can be purchased online at www.hihonor.com/us, Amazon.com and Newegg.com.

Sleek and shapely, the device was inspired by the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. It also earned seven International CES 2016 awards, and has been the subject of widespread praise in the media.

Aside from being the primary sales channel for the device, www.hihonor.com/us also features promotions and giveaways, serves as a community platform and offers free software updates for honor devices – a three-pronged approach that underscores the brand's commitment to its users.

Up to 20 honor fans that visit the community of www.hihonor.com/usbetween January 29 and February 21 will be offered a chance to test and submit a written review of the 5X. Prizes, ranging from honor 5X handsets to Amazon gift cards, will be given to the participants whose reviews receive the most views, subject to terms and conditions.

About honorhonor is a leading mobile device e-brand under Huawei. In line with its slogan, "for the brave", the brand aims to meet the needs of digital natives through internet-optimized products offering superior user experiences, inspiring action, fostering creativity and empowering the young to achieve their dreams. honor has set itself apart by showcasing its own bravery to do things differently and to usher in the latest technologies and innovations for customers.

But it's not really a comparable deal when you can only find a new Nexus 6 around 300 dollars.

Louise Pelayo

I am getting a salary of 5900 dollars each week. Over a year ago I was in a horrible condition , jobless and no bank credit . Thanks to one of my friends who showed me a way where I was able to gather myself and making average of 55 d/h. So it can change your life as it has changed mine.

Build quality of the Nexus 6 is incredible; it has a metal frame and it is water resistant. There is no burn in issues with the Nexus 6 screen the only problem is the brightness but the screen is amazing. Battery life lasts about a day with heavy use and 2 days with minimal use for me so not bad. Camera is worse that this crappy phone? Where did you get that from? They both have 13MP

AsterMK

"It has a metal frame"
And this is almost full unibody.
"There is no burn in issues"
niceme.me
But seriously, there's been a painful crapton of burn in reoprts. Check for burn ins youself, even if they're faint, you probably WILL find them.
The Snapdragon 615 is more efficient than the 805 even without Marshmallow, this phone, the Idol 3 and Moto X Play are all battery life beasts.
"They both have 13MP"
Judging a camera by its MP count is NOT something you should ever, ever do.

John Doe

Nexus 6 is WATER RESISTANT and the metal frame wraps around the back it is under the plastic back cover.
I had two Nexus 6 devices and none of them have burn in issues. The screen is also 2K unlike this phone and it is bigger and has a higher screen to body ratio.
The Nexus has a bigger battery and with Marshmallow lasts much longer. Do not compare this shitty phone to the Moto X play which has a much bigger battery.
I am not judging the camera by its MP count that is why I am asking you why YOU think this shitty phone takes better pictures than the Nexus 6. Also the Nexus 6 has OIS.

So let's see what the Nexus 6 has that this shitty phone doesn't:
-A faster processor 805 based on krait unlike the 615 that is based on the same overheating architecture as the 810.
-A bigger battery (3220mAh) with better software battery optimization (Doze)
-Wireless charging
-6 inch 1440x2560 pixels with 493ppi with CORNING GORRILLA GLASS!
-13 MP camera with OIS and upto 4K 30fps video recording and HDR
-Supports WAY MORE bands than this shitty phone
-WiFi AC with 5Ghz
-Dual front facing speakers
-ANDROID 6.0 MARSHMALLOW

The Honor 5X:
-Has a subpar 64-bit processor and a fingerprint sensor
-Instead of Gorrilla glass they give a screen protector lmao

Nexus 6 is SPLASH resistant, it even says right on the PhoneArena link you posted (ayy lmao, using a specs graph to compare phones) and yes, it's a different thing.
"I had two Nexus 6 devices and ..."
Just because YOU don't have burn in (or haven't noticed which is significantly more likely) doesn't mean no one else does. The Internet has plenty of burn in complaints and even AndroidPolice mentioned them in their 6P review. Also, 1440p (not 2K) and all, the Nexus 6 also has terrible, horrible max brightness (and magenta tint at lowest brightness as a bonus) so it's much worse for things like, you know, using your phone in the sun.
Metal frame or not, the N6 isn't unibody and there's been reports of the Nexus letters falling off, yeah, such great build quality.
"I am not judging its camera by MP"
right after you say that both have 13MP as if it's the only thing that matters. Sure, I'll tell you why it's a better camera: it has much better image processing software (unlike Google camera which is rather basic) which is much more important to a good camera than just the sensor, as well as a lot of other features you won't get on the Nexus 6. The Snapdragon 615 is based on Cortex A53 which is an efficient, cool-running design, while the 810 also has a high-power (and pretty inefficient) A57 cluster. ARMv8 is also much better with encryption, leading to this phone not having garbage storage speeds (which the N6 does have because of forced encryption on ARMv7).
"The Nexus has a bigger battery"
Here we go again. Comparing specs and specs exclusively. The N6 does NOT have better battery life in anything but standby (though 6.0 with Doze is coming to the H5X so this doesn't even mean much). Wireless charging, I'll give you that, same with front facing speakers but how do you know for sure if they use CGG or not?
Exactly, you don't. Sony doesn't mention CGG for their Z series phones and do you really believe the Z5 Premium for example doesn't have good protective glass?
Giving a screen protector is better than not giving it.
"Supports WAY MORE bands"
And since you can't have dual SIM on the N6 (unlike on the 5X), you won't ever utilize more than ~3 of them. Yay.
"5GHz WiFi"
Alright, how many people use 5GHz WiFi when speaking worldwide?
Exactly, I've never met anyone, not sure about you.
"This shitty phone" doesn't help any of your arguments, it just makes them look childish. I'm not sure why I even responded since your entire comment was cherrypicking the "advantages" of the N6 and completely ignoring the advantages of the 5X. The N6 is a damn good phone, that's not something I can argue against, but so is the Honor 5X.

John Doe

Lmfaoo You are DELUSIONAL.

The fact is that the Nexus 6 is a year older and is much better than the shitty phone that is the Honor 5x in terms of specs and reviews which give the Nexus 6 much higher scores across the board. Motorola > Honor and if I am going to spend $200 I would buy the Nexus 6 for a THIRD time than buy that terrible phone.

instinct

I wouldn't get the Nexus 6 just because it's way too damn big.

shima

people always say Nexus 6 is huge. but its really not that much bigger than my note 3 .

instinct

Just user preference. I have a G4 and I wish it was a little smaller. Note series are too big to comfortably use with one hand for me.

AsterMK

Sure, continue sounding childish by calling it a "shitty phone" over and over. And find a Nexus 6 for $200 anywhere, because I can't remember ever seeing it go that low after black Friday.

And don't use arguments like "the Nexus 6 is better and this is fact" after most of your points have been busted. Also re-read the last few sentences of my previous comment if you think I'm delusional.

John Doe

You seem to skip over all the good reviews that the Nexus 6 got and the much better specs it has over this mid range phone. The fact that you are trying to claim that a mid range phone made by "honor" (Huawei wouldn't even put their logo on it) is somehow better or even comparable to the high end Nexus 6 made by Motorola and Google is a delusional sentiment and you should get checked out. The Nexus 6 was $250 two weeks ago and you will find it for around $300 now which is still better than this $200 shitty phone because it gives you a high end device for the price of a mid range phone.

AsterMK

1. Nexus 6 isn't high end, let's get that out of the way. It was high end over a year ago and in this market that's a lot of time.
2. $300 is 50% more money for what is probably not a 50% better phone. The fact that the Honor 5X comes with a 32GB MicroSD card is a nice bonus.
3. Do you see a Google logo on the N6? Irony.
4. Honor is a sub-brand of Huawei but this has nothing to do with anything.
5. You seem to also gloss over the advantages of the H5X as well. Irony part 2?

John Doe

Like I said you are delusional and I will let you embellish in your fantasy.

yankeesusa

Dang dude. Just quit already. Don't get mad because people love their n6. Also the 5x just came out so battery is still up in the air. And unless you used the n6 after the 6.0 update please don't judge the battery life. And although the so called site you say says "splash resistant" the phone is actually water resistant. All internal components are nano coated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_aTg1VU6k

kam

After the Marshmallow and lastest Google Camera update the camera capability has dramatically .

Nexus 6 screen burn in is unheard of in phones after the initial batch

You being anal about the nexus 6 doesn't make it a bad phone , it is definitely better than the buggy 615 laden phones

AsterMK

"The N6 is a damn good phone, that's not something I can argue against, but so is the Honor 5X."

I don't think the above quote is anal in any way.

TheSpaceUnicorn

unibody =/= better build quality, in comparison to just having a metal frame.

GazaIan

Yes, the phone does have burn in. In the navigation bar. AKA the part of the screen that never changes anyway. So you don't really notice it ever.

AsterMK

...except when it does change, like when apps use a tinted nav bar, or a transparent one, or immersive mode. Which is a lot of apps.

dude

The people who say Nexus 6 have worse build because it only have metal frame, vs metal "unibody" of this phone are talking out their asses. I have opened up more than one recent Moto X devices, they are built like tank from inside, it's the internal structure that give it overall rigidity and durability. It also have water resistant nano-coating. Chinese designed phones like Huawai and ZTE are built to be cheap, which I also have opened up, will never be more durable than a Moto X.

yankeesusa

Ok, then. My n6 has a great build quality not to mention it's water resistant, don't know what you mean about "bad build quality". Still no burn in as you say, fingerprint scanner started being the norm just recently, at 32gb most people are good enough for memory and camera, yea it could be better. But the n6 has front speakers with a great battery life after 6.0. But again the 5x could have better battery life, i just haven't seen any reviews on battery life normal usage since phone just started selling.

Make sure to buy the $229 version. The cheaper $179 only has 1GB of RAM, which is hardly adequate. The $229 had twice the RAM and storage. It's a pretty awesome phone. Highly recommended.

hp420

What @BrianThompson says. I have the 2gb ram, 16gb storage....TRUST ME...you want that 2nd GB of ram and extra 8gb of storage. The MM update does offer expandable internal storage with an SD card, but having the storage native on the nand chip makes a HUGE difference in performance.

The camera is PASSABLE....not great. Nexus 6 has the exact same camera hardware and blows the G3 out of the water with its fine detail. The difference is Moto/Google made the N6. Moto/Lenovo made the G3. They are WORLDS apart...trust me!! I own both.

...will not compete in even close to the same price bracket. There are plenty of awesome phones at a lower price anyways, I don't even know why people buy Samsung flagships anymore except for perhaps the Note line.

nxtiak

I had it preordered on Amazon but cancelled it today and bought the Blu Vivo XL.
It will be a phone I keep in my car with a Data-Only SIM from Project Fi and plugged into my Kenwood for Android Auto.

fitnesspro22

615 processor, 1.5 G Hertz and only 2 g of RAM means slow, lagging, studerring device with lots of hiccups. No marshmallow. Who would want this crappy phone???? There are better phones for this price, Moto, Nexus 5 and others.

AsterMK

The Moto G has a Snapdragon 410 and the X Play is more expensive and still has a 615. Your point being?

The Nexus 5 is many levels behind this phone in everything but the SoC.

Gjorgi Lazarovski

You're talking out of your ass. If you've seen some reviews you would know that it's a pretty good device and the specs are more than enough. Plus EMUI although it seems heavy, Huawei optimizes it very good so it doesn't lag or stutter like a $700 Samsung device would, so there's that. :)

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

EMUI is GARBAGE. If you've seen some reviews.... You would know that.

Gjorgi Lazarovski

It has many features that don;t work every time, but guess what you don't need them, so you can easily disable them. Just because nexus fanboys bitch about stock android, it doesn't make EMUI garbage. The most important thing is IT DOESN'T FUCKING LAG, like a third of skins out there. If it was me I'd just remove 20% of the nonsense Huawei put in EMUI and call it a day.

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

It has many features that don't work? Lmfao. Stop yourself right there. Definition of garbage.

moew

And I'm sure you have this phone in hand, right now, and can verify a picture with the code FUZZYWAP69 in it immediately.

hp420

ummmm.....roms????

is this dude serious right now??? lol

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

ROMS? What does Roms(if it even gets real support) have to do with anything? You can buy ANY device and root/rom. Nothing special here.

hp420

EXACTLY my point. You're basing your entire opinion of the device on the firmware it runs when that is the one interchangeable part it has. You can run any rom you want and you said "no, don't buy it because of its rom"

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

That's not MY point. MY point is that phones in this price range ESPECIALLY, is for the average user that just wants a cheap good phone. 99% of those people would NEVER even think about flashing a rom. So they'll be stuck with terrible software. The folks who Mod are completely irrelevant to sales in that segment.

People want a phone thats not garbage out the box... You know, what they thought they paid for?

hp420

Well, considering the only thing you mentioned is the firmware being "garbage"....and remember...you're on android police. Roms are 100% always an option with the users here. You're preaching to the wrong crowd, my friend. No one gives a damn if the stock rom sucks or not. If people here want to get bang for their buck they all know full-well flashing a rom is the way to go if the firmware sucks.

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

Website is 100% irrelevant to the point of the industry. Flashing is not the answer to terrible broken software.

hp420

How is the website you are posting this on irrelevant?? That is the worst excuse I've heard in a long time. Just admit you're wrong and walk away with at least a shred of dignity here...smh

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

Think stupid. What website would the "average user" be on? None of these sites. The site doesn't matter. The facts are the same.

hp420

If you know this, then why are you talking to people here like they are the 'average user'

hp420

Moto G is the only moto in this spec-class, and it costs right around the same price. Nexus 5x is around $100 more. Your point is moot.

They sell this in Indonesia with Android 4.2 and you'll never get a software update. It doesn't matter because nobody will buy the phone because of the crappy Huawei software overlay. The thing is called the Honor 3C and it costs around $165 USD.

hp420

Because roms aren't a thing??

vn33

"$199 ? Not bad" I thought to myself, until I remembered I live in Canada, home of the 60 cent dollar :(

To

In Argentina is home of the 0.08 cent dollar.

vn33

Around 25000 pesos ?

In Canada, we also use "dollar" as our currency. When I see $199, I immediately thought of as Canadian dollars, not the actual $US.

To

No, $200 is like 3000 pesos. The problem is that this phones never get here, and if they do they'll probaby be like 500 dollars. 14pesos=1 us Dollar

hp420

Newegg used to be my absolute favorite online retailer....then they went the way amazon did and started allowing 3rd party sellers. Immediately the site went straight off a cliff and so did their reliability. I haven't even been to their website in at least 4 years. It's so sad when this happens to such an amazing company...and Newegg was easily one of the top 5 online retailers in the world for so many years!! Very disappointing, IMO :(